How Tyrese Gibson’s Daughter Inspired Him to Join ‘The Masked Singer’

Actor Tyrese Gibson was unmasked last night as the Robopine on “The Masked Singer.”

On Thursday, “Extra’s” Rachel Lindsay spoke with Tyrese, who revealed how his daughter inspired him to do the show.

“To be honest with you, my 13-year-old daughter Shayla gets all the credit for me doing the show,” he said. “[It] was one of those family moments. We were all at home sitting on the couch trying to figure out this new world we are in and she is on these streaming platforms binge-watching everything… She said, ‘Dad, you should do “The Masked Singer.” I said, ‘Shayla, get out of here.”’

He continued, “Lo and behold, four months later, I get the phone call and I was like, ‘Oh my god.’ It was like, ‘Tyrese, we know you would never do something like this, but the offer came in and we wanted you to know.’ I said, ‘Huh, actually I will.’”

Gibson said he was relieved about being unmasked. “I did not know that I would even make it past the second episode,” he revealed. “I started seeing a lot of people get voted off and I was like, the jig is up… When I got voted off, it was almost a sense of relief. I just didn’t think I would make it that far.”

When Rachel asked why he didn’t think he would last, Tyrese explained, “I just never have done a show like this. I don’t wear masks. I don’t sing at this point in my career in front of judges.”

As the Robopine, he intentionally offered confusing clues, such as saying he was 60 years old with two grandchildren. Gibson commented, “I did not try and disguise my singing voice. I just said, ‘My voice is my voice. I just want to throw people off with my clues’… I was enjoying the hits and misses of all the clues… I was like, ‘I’m not going to be able to make it past two or three episodes if you give clues away about my actual life. People are all in my business. They know everything.’”

He added, “I’m sorry to my daughter I didn’t win.”

Next, Tyrese is gearing up for “F9,” the ninth chapter in the “Fast & Furious” franchise. “I can tell you that the director Justin Lin is probably one of the most competitive people I ever met in my entire life. I didn’t even know this till ‘F9,’” he said.